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It was even more unlikely in 1988


Corshamred

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Despite what happened yesterday we are still in with a chance. It is not unprecedented in our history either. Some people on here will no doubt remember the 1988 season when a play off place looked impossible with 4 games to go.

I can remember going to Port vale away as I was staying near Birmingham and watching us draw. I counted the number of our fans in the away end. This didn’t take long as we numbered 49. This was the 18th of April 1988.

The table then looked like this

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sunderland 41 23 12 6 80 45 35 81
2 Walsall 43 22 12 9 66 46 20 78
3 Notts County 42 21 12 9 74 44 30 75
4 Brighton and Hove Albion 42 20 14 8 60 43 17 74
5 Wigan Athletic 42 20 12 10 67 52 15 72
6 Northampton Town 43 18 17 8 64 43 21 71
7 Fulham 42 18 9 15 65 55 10 63
8 Bristol City 42 17 12 13 70 61 9 63
9 Brentford 41 16 12 13 48 51 -3 60
10 Blackpool 41 15 13 13 64 53 11 58
11 Port Vale 41 16 10 15 53 51 2 58
12 Bristol Rovers 41 15 11 15 61 54 7 56

 

What happened next was an amazing collapse of the teams ahead of us whilst we won all our remaining games , including a one nil victory away at top of the table Sunderland and if my memory serves me correctly a last minute screamer from Ralph Milne away at York.

I think the last one as at home to Doncaster with around 18000 at the Gate on a rather sunny day.

The table ended up looking like this and we took the last play off spot.

1 Sunderland 46 27 12 7 92 48 44 93
2 Brighton and Hove Albion 46 23 15 8 69 47 22 84
3 Walsall 46 23 13 10 68 50 18 82
4 Notts County 46 23 12 11 82 49 33 81
5 Bristol City 46 21 12 13 77 62 15 75
6 Northampton Town 46 18 19 9 70 51 19 73
7 Wigan Athletic 46 20 12 14 70 61 9 72
8 Bristol Rovers 46 18 12 16 68 56 12 66
9 Fulham 46 19 9 18 69 60 9 66
10 Blackpool 46 17 14 15 71 62 9 65
11 Port Vale 46 18 11 17 58 56 2

65

There were only 3 in the those days with the other one coming from division 2.

So until all hope is gone I will carry on believing.

Sorry if this has already been posted before.

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10 minutes ago, Corshamred said:

I think the last one as at home to Doncaster with around 18000 at the Gate on a rather sunny day.

 

Colin Gordon leaving it late to get the vital winner in about the 82nd minute iirc., to great celebrations.

Don't remember there being anything like 18k there though!

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Doncaster home was the only home gameI'd missed for about 10 years, Cousin got married and I had to drive my Parents so no out. Spent a lot of time nipping out with the radio.
I was at York, turned away at the turnstiles at Sheffield and at the Walsall games. I hate the playoffs, a necessary evil maybe and good for the TV, but God they're torture for fans.

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3 hours ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Colin Gordon leaving it late to get the vital winner in about the 82nd minute iirc., to great celebrations.

Don't remember there being anything like 18k there though!

I remember that crowd. The biggest of the season by some distance.

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I went to Sunderland (Easter Monday maybe).  Couldn't have been any more than 75 City fans there.  We were absolutely battered and still won 1-0.  Remember that 4 of us were threatened with arrest in turn ("you make that manual manipulator sign again son, you're nicked" to all of us - none of us did).  Went up on CATS.  Took forever but was well worth it.

Edit - "manual manipulator"?  I don't remember typing that....

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19 minutes ago, The Gasbuster said:

I remember that crowd. The biggest if the season by some distance.

You reckon it was18k too?

I was in the enclosure that day and remember there being plenty of open terrace to leap about on when the goal went in.

I would have said nearer to 12-13k, but obviously could be wrong.

Our home average was 9,801 that season btw.

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8 minutes ago, Vespa Red said:

I went to Sunderland (Easter Monday maybe).  Couldn't have been any more than 75 City fans there.  We were absolutely battered and still won 1-0.  Remember that 4 of us were threatened with arrest in turn ("you make that manual manipulator sign again son, you're nicked" to all of us - none of us did).  Went up on CATS.  Took forever but was well worth it.

Edit - "manual manipulator"?  I don't remember typing that....

Pretty sure it was Colin Gordon (again) with that goal.

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For those old stagers who have a longer memory, it’s 19 April 1965 when City pulled off the impossible. This was an Easter weekend and after the Good Friday away match at Carlisle the promotion hopes we’re doomed as City could only manage a draw. But, amazingly on the Saturday and Monday, all the results went City’s way. (This was when teams played 3 matches over the Easter period). It was an evening kick off for City,  on the Monday, away to Shrewsbury and who should come to the rescue - John Atyeo. Four goals in the second half to give City’s a 5-1 win and set up promotion. I was there and, as an impressionable youngster, I thought that this sort of excitement and success was a sign of what was to come. Unfortunately, instead of upwards and onwards, it’s often been one step forward two steps back 

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This has made me feel a tad better after yesterday’s disappointment ?

On to Millwall with the other 1400 Reds on Tuesday night - let’s get the three points and put the pressure back on Derby cos I know who I would rather play on the last day and it’s not WBA

Can we do it??

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29 minutes ago, Rossi the Robin said:

Colin Gordon missed a penalty just before the winner iirc? 

Forgotten that, but it was certainly getting tense with the ball just refusing to go in the Doncaster net as I recall until Gordon popped up with the clincher late on.

 

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I remember that Doncaster game well. The crowd was much bigger than our average for that season and the official figure of 18,000 felt about right. There were even City fans allowed in the middle section of the open end as an overspill. There was still plenty of space in the ground, though, seeing as it has held crowds of over 30,000 before.

 It was one of those games where it felt like the ball wouldn’t go in, especially after the penalty miss.

There was more than a hint of handball when Colin Gordon slid in on the keeper to win the ball for our goal. There was a pitch invasion after the goal and at the end of the game and I recall Joe Kinnear, their manager at the time, moaning in a TV interview afterwards about the fans on the pitch. 

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6 hours ago, Corshamred said:

Despite what happened yesterday we are still in with a chance. It is not unprecedented in our history either. Some people on here will no doubt remember the 1988 season when a play off place looked impossible with 4 games to go.

I can remember going to Port vale away as I was staying near Birmingham and watching us draw. I counted the number of our fans in the away end. This didn’t take long as we numbered 49. This was the 18th of April 1988.

The table then looked like this

 

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sunderland 41 23 12 6 80 45 35 81
2 Walsall 43 22 12 9 66 46 20 78
3 Notts County 42 21 12 9 74 44 30 75
4 Brighton and Hove Albion 42 20 14 8 60 43 17 74
5 Wigan Athletic 42 20 12 10 67 52 15 72
6 Northampton Town 43 18 17 8 64 43 21 71
7 Fulham 42 18 9 15 65 55 10 63
8 Bristol City 42 17 12 13 70 61 9 63
9 Brentford 41 16 12 13 48 51 -3 60
10 Blackpool 41 15 13 13 64 53 11 58
11 Port Vale 41 16 10 15 53 51 2 58
12 Bristol Rovers 41 15 11 15 61 54 7 56

 

What happened next was an amazing collapse of the teams ahead of us whilst we won all our remaining games , including a one nil victory away at top of the table Sunderland and if my memory serves me correctly a last minute screamer from Ralph Milne away at York.

I think the last one as at home to Doncaster with around 18000 at the Gate on a rather sunny day.

The table ended up looking like this and we took the last play off spot.

1 Sunderland 46 27 12 7 92 48 44 93
2 Brighton and Hove Albion 46 23 15 8 69 47 22 84
3 Walsall 46 23 13 10 68 50 18 82
4 Notts County 46 23 12 11 82 49 33 81
5 Bristol City 46 21 12 13 77 62 15 75
6 Northampton Town 46 18 19 9 70 51 19 73
7 Wigan Athletic 46 20 12 14 70 61 9 72
8 Bristol Rovers 46 18 12 16 68 56 12 66
9 Fulham 46 19 9 18 69 60 9 66
10 Blackpool 46 17 14 15 71 62 9 65
11 Port Vale 46 18 11 17 58 56 2

65

There were only 3 in the those days with the other one coming from division 2.

So until all hope is gone I will carry on believing.

Sorry if this has already been posted before.

The major factor in that end of season was our new manager, Joe Jordan came in with a few games to go and transformed us into a team that suddenly had total belief in what they were doing. New ideas, total passion and belief, he raised the fans to a new high and we looked unbeatable. 

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6 hours ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Colin Gordon leaving it late to get the vital winner in about the 82nd minute iirc., to great celebrations.

Don't remember there being anything like 18k there though!

oh yes there was NTB we were awful that day until Gordon fluked it in somehow plus it was a humid rainy day iirc......

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I was telling my daughter about that season after yesterday’s defeat. Didn’t we lose 1-0 at Twerton shortly before that late run? Seem to Recall  their fans singing ‘You’re not going up’ at us after that result if it’s the same season

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3 minutes ago, MrBibs said:

I was telling my daughter about that season after yesterday’s defeat. Didn’t we lose 1-0 at Twerton shortly before that late run? Seem to Recall  their fans singing ‘You’re not going up’ at us after that result if it’s the same season

Unfortunately they were right!

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I gave up smoking two days before the first leg of the play-off final against Walsall (I’ve never had one since) and almost gave in after what that b*gger Kelly did to us.  Seated in the far block of the Williams, nearest the East End, where, curiously, a young lady used to frequently reveal her assets at half time.

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8 hours ago, Corshamred said:

Despite what happened yesterday we are still in with a chance. It is not unprecedented in our history either. Some people on here will no doubt remember the 1988 season when a play off place looked impossible with 4 games to go.

I can remember going to Port vale away as I was staying near Birmingham and watching us draw. I counted the number of our fans in the away end. This didn’t take long as we numbered 49. This was the 18th of April 1988.

The table then looked like this

 

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sunderland 41 23 12 6 80 45 35 81
2 Walsall 43 22 12 9 66 46 20 78
3 Notts County 42 21 12 9 74 44 30 75
4 Brighton and Hove Albion 42 20 14 8 60 43 17 74
5 Wigan Athletic 42 20 12 10 67 52 15 72
6 Northampton Town 43 18 17 8 64 43 21 71
7 Fulham 42 18 9 15 65 55 10 63
8 Bristol City 42 17 12 13 70 61 9 63
9 Brentford 41 16 12 13 48 51 -3 60
10 Blackpool 41 15 13 13 64 53 11 58
11 Port Vale 41 16 10 15 53 51 2 58
12 Bristol Rovers 41 15 11 15 61 54 7 56

 

What happened next was an amazing collapse of the teams ahead of us whilst we won all our remaining games , including a one nil victory away at top of the table Sunderland and if my memory serves me correctly a last minute screamer from Ralph Milne away at York.

I think the last one as at home to Doncaster with around 18000 at the Gate on a rather sunny day.

The table ended up looking like this and we took the last play off spot.

1 Sunderland 46 27 12 7 92 48 44 93
2 Brighton and Hove Albion 46 23 15 8 69 47 22 84
3 Walsall 46 23 13 10 68 50 18 82
4 Notts County 46 23 12 11 82 49 33 81
5 Bristol City 46 21 12 13 77 62 15 75
6 Northampton Town 46 18 19 9 70 51 19 73
7 Wigan Athletic 46 20 12 14 70 61 9 72
8 Bristol Rovers 46 18 12 16 68 56 12 66
9 Fulham 46 19 9 18 69 60 9 66
10 Blackpool 46 17 14 15 71 62 9 65
11 Port Vale 46 18 11 17 58 56 2

65

There were only 3 in the those days with the other one coming from division 2.

So until all hope is gone I will carry on believing.

Sorry if this has already been posted before.

Here's what I wrote at the time; 

Walsall had finished third and played fourth placed Notts. County. City finished fifth and had to play the twentieth club in division two, Sheffield United. City drew 1-1 at Bramall Lane after winning 1-0 at Ashton Gate thus relegating The Blades. May 25th. 1988, a packed Ashton Gate saw Walsall win 3-1, but three days later, City won the return two nil! In the dying moments a shot for a winning third goal passed inches wide of the Walsall post. A penalty shoot out was now held to determine the venue for a third deciding game. Once again City proved inept with spot kicks and had to return to Walsall on May 30th. In a one sided encounter, Walsall, in their centenary season won 4-0 and with it promotion to division two.

However we had the last laugh. Walsall stayed up just the one season incurring defeats such as 7-0 home to Chelsea. We met then again in 89-90 on our way to automatic promotion and they were relegated for the second consecutive season picking up 41 points from their 46 games.

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Cracking but nerve racking day against donny and the crowd was right up for it.

block b of the dolman was mint as usual at the time and u can’t beat a good pitch invasion.

Im sure there’s a picture of David Moyes celebrating somewhere with the ball boy or was that against the funny people from Azteca Trumpton at the time.

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2 hours ago, Offside said:

I remember that Doncaster game well. The crowd was much bigger than our average for that season and the official figure of 18,000 felt about right. There were even City fans allowed in the middle section of the open end as an overspill. There was still plenty of space in the ground, though, seeing as it has held crowds of over 30,000 before.

 It was one of those games where it felt like the ball wouldn’t go in, especially after the penalty miss.

There was more than a hint of handball when Colin Gordon slid in on the keeper to win the ball for our goal. There was a pitch invasion after the goal and at the end of the game and I recall Joe Kinnear, their manager at the time, moaning in a TV interview afterwards about the fans on the pitch. 

I was on the pitch. Back in the days when you didn't face the equivalent of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, for pitch encroachment.

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